Somerset County Man Sentenced to One Year for Stealing Over $690K in Federal Benefits

Steven Jones, 66, collected his deceased father’s retirement benefits for nearly 20 years, falsifying records and impersonating him to federal agencies.

A Somerset County man has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for stealing more than $690,000 in government benefits over nearly two decades, Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Steven Jones, 66, of Somerset, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of public money and was sentenced on July 25, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton federal court.

According to court documents, Jones’ father died in October 2004 while receiving retirement benefits from federal programs, including the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense. Jones falsified his father’s death certificate to prevent agencies from stopping the payments. On two occasions, he arranged for another person to impersonate his father in interactions with a federal agency to maintain the fraud.

Jones unlawfully collected approximately $691,465.44 in benefits from October 2004 through December 2023.

In addition to his prison sentence, Judge Kirsch ordered Jones to serve two years of supervised release and pay full restitution in the amount stolen.

The investigation was conducted by special agents of the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, led by Special Agent in Charge Amy Connelly. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chana Zuckier of the Bank Integrity and Money Laundering Recovery Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Abrams of the Narcotics/OCDETF Unit in Newark.